brushfire

1 of 2

adjective

brush·​fire ˈbrəsh-ˌfī(-ə)r 

: involving mobilization only on a small and local scale

brushfire border wars

brush fire

2 of 2

noun

1

: a fire involving low-growing plants (such as scrub and brush)

2

: a minor conflict or crisis

putting out political brush fires

Examples of brushfire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Two hundred firefighters planned to work through the night battling a brush fire in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve that ignited Sunday, prompting warnings to hundreds of residents in the area, before crews halted the fire’s progress. — Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026

Just two days later, on July 8, 2025, several brush fires were ignited near his apartment complex — collectively dubbed the Copper River/Meenach Fires by investigators. — Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 10 Aug. 2026

Los Angeles County firefighters have fully contained a brush fire that was burning in the hills above the Newhall Pass in Santa Clarita. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026

The warnings come as a brush fire — the Ridge fire — temporarily forced a closure of the Grapevine section of the 5 Freeway on Friday evening and triggered an evacuation order in the Gorman area. — Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1954, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1850, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for brushfire

• admire
• afire
• aspire
• backfire
• esquire
• expire
• haywire
• hellfire
• inquire
• inspire
• newswire
• perspire